Collapsible reel with automatic leg diversion



COLLAPSIBLE REEL WITH AUTOMATIC LEG DIVERSION Filed July 15, 1963 B. STAHMER Jan. 4, 1966 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. BERNHARDT STAHMER Jan. 4, 1966 B. STAHMER 3,227,392

COLLAPSIBLE REEL WITH AUTOMATIC LEG DIVERSIQN Y Filed July 15, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1'; [ill INVENTOR. BERNHARDT STAH MER United States Patent Office 3,227,392 COLLAPSIBLE REEL WITH AUTOMATIC LEG DIVERSION Bernhardt Stahmer, 1509 Chicago St., Omaha, Nebr. Filed July 15, 1963, Ser. No. 295,002 2 Claims. (Cl. 24285) The present invention relates to reels for winding cable, wire, electric cord, and the like, and in particular a reel assembly having a plurality of legs pivotally mounted in a carrier slidably mounted on a post with a conical-shaped spreader at the lower end of the post for initiating diverging movements of the legs as the carrier travels downwardly on the post, and wherein the carrier is retained in an upper collapsed position by a key therein coacting with an upper notch in the post, and in a downward position with the legs spread apart, whereby the reel is operative, by the key coacting with a lower notch in the lower part of the post.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a reel assembly with collapsible legs wherein a reel is mounted on a post and the post is supported in an upright position by diverging legs in which the legs are spread outwardly by a cone as they move downwardly so that it is not necessary for an operator to bend over to start each leg outwardly.

Various types of stands, and other supports have been provided for holding reels for cables, electric wires, and the like. However, when a plurality of such reel assemblies are carried on a wire cart, truck, or the like they occupy considerable space, and the number of reels carried is very much restricted. With this thought in mind this invention contemplates a reel assembly having collapsible legs wherein the legs nest against a reel carrying post when the reel is not in use.

Furthermore, a reel support of this type, and having collapsible legs, is diflicult to set up for use as it is necessary for an operator to bend overand start the lower end of each leg outwardly in adjusting the legs to reel supporting positions. For this reason the reel support of this invention is provided with a frustro-conical base that is spaced below lower ends of the legs so that as the legs start downwardly the conical surface starts a spreading action of the legs, so that it is not necessary for the operator to bend over.

The opening movements of the legs of a reel of this type require the leg carrier to travel the entire length of the supporting post, and consequently it is difficult to provide stops for limiting opening movements of the legs so that the post may be retained in an upright position. With this thought in mind this invention con-templates, further, arcuate extensions on upper ends of the legs which abut the upper surface of the leg carrier to provide stops for limiting outward movements of the legs.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide improvements in a reel assembly whereby the legs of the assembly are automatically started outwardly as a leg carrier is urged downwardly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reel support having folding legs in which inner ends of the legs are provided with extensions that limit outward movements thereof.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a reel support having folding legs pivotally mounted in a leg carrier in which the carrier is locked in upper and lower positions by a key therein coacting with notches in a slot in the surface of a supporting post.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fair lead eye bolt which is mounted on the outer surface of one of the legs of a reel support so that the usual supporting element of the eye bolt is obviated.

3,227,392 Patented Jan. 4, 1966 A still further object of the invention is to provide a support for reels for winding cable, electric wire, and the like in which the support is of a simple and economical construction.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims, the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawings themselves as the drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a method by which the principles of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the improved reel assembly showing the folding legs in folded positions in full lines, and in extended positions in broken lines, and with parts of the reel and head of the support broken away.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional plan through upper ends of the folding legs, carrier in which the legs are pivotally mounted, and post on which the carrier is slidably mounted, said section being taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view showing the legs pivotally mounted in the leg carrier, with the carrier slidably mounted on a post, and illustrating, in particular, the extended arcuate surfaces at the upper ends of the legs which provide stops for holding the legs in outwardly diverging positions.

While one embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the above-referred-to drawings, it is to be understood that they are merely for the purpose of illustration and that various changes in construction may be resorted to in the course of manufacture in order that the invention may be utilized to the best advantage according to circumstances which may arise, without in any manner departing from the spirit and intention of the device, which is to be limited only in accordance with the appended claims. And while there is stated the primary field of utility of the invention it remains obvious that it may be employed in any other capacity wherein it may be found applicable.

In the accompanying drawings, and in the following specification, the same reference characters are used to designate the same parts and elements throughout, and in which the numeral 10 refers to the invention in its entirety, numeral 12 indicating a post having a frustroconical-shaped base 14, on the lower end, numeral 16 indicating a head mounted on the upper end of the post and having a handle 18 extended upwardly therefrom, numeral 20 indicating a shaft rotatably mounted in a bearing 22 of the head and having a reel mounting member or head 24 on one end, numeral 26 indicating a C- shaped reel frame having arms 28 and 30 extended horizontally from ends thereof secured to the member 24, numeral 32 indicating saddles carried by the arms 28 and 30, and numeral 34 a leg carrier slidably mounted on the post 12 and in which legs 36 are mounted by pins 38.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the legs 35 are T-shaped in cross section having webs 40 through which the pins 38 extend, and flanges 42 on the lower ends of which are knobs 44, and as shown in FIGURE 1, the upper ends of the flanges are provided with arcuate extensions 46 that contact the upper surface of the carrier 34 when the legs are extended, as indicated by the broken lines 48, to provide stops which limit outward movement of the legs.

The opposite sides of the post 12 are provided with slots 50 and 52 in which keys 54 and 56 that protrude inwardly from the hub 58 of the leg carrier 34 travel, and, as shown in FIGURE 1, upper and lower ends of the slots open into areas 60 and 62, in inner ends of which are notches 64 and 66. With the legs folded the keys 54 and 56 are secured in the upper notches 64, and with the legs extended, as indicated by the broken lines in FIGURE 1, the keys are secured in the lower notches 66. By turning the leg carrier 34 in a counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow 68, the keys snap over the high points of the notches and pass into the grooves or slots 50 and 52, whereby the leg carrier is free to travel upwardly and downwardly on the post.

The tongues 40 of the legs are .pivotally mounted by the pins 38 in the slots 51 between cars 53 extended from the hub 58 of the leg carrier 34.

Operation With the parts assembled as illustrated and described the legs 36 are retained in the folded positions, as shown by the full lines in FIGURE 1, by the keys 54 and 56 coacting with the upper notches 64, when the reel is being transported from one location to another; and when it is desired to set up the reel to wind wire thereon the carrier 36 is turned in a counterclockwise direction, releasing the keys from the notches, and the carrier with the legs hanging therefrom is moved downwardly with the knobs 44 being urged outwardly by the sloping surface of the base 14. With the legs spread to the positions shown in broken lines the post and reel will be supported in upright positions and the reel may be rotated to wind wire and the like thereon.

After use the leg carrier is released also by rotation in a counterclockwise direction, and the legs are drawn upwardly to the collapsed positions, shown in full lines. By this means the reel may be rotated to wind wire or the like or the like thereon, and also rotated to remove wire therefrom.

From the foregoing description it is thought to be obvious that a collapsible reel with automatic leg diversion constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that my invention is susceptible of some change and modification without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice, except as claimed.

The head 16 is provided with a latch 70 that is mounted by a pin 72 between ears 74, and with the latch turned to the position shown in full lines the extended end engages the reel frame 26 preventing rotation of the reel. To release the reel the latch is turned over to the position shown in dotted lines.

The outer end of the shaft 20 is threaded, and the threaded end is provided with a wing nut 76 and a concave spring washer 78, whereby the reel may be retained in tension to restrict rotation thereof. The tension of the cable or wire may, therefore, be controlled by the wing nut.

A knob 80 is freely mounted on the extended end of the arm 30 whereby, with the knob rotatable, the reel may be rotated by hand.

The reel frame 26 is provided with an outlet box 82 into which an electric cord 84 may be plugged by a plug 86. A wire 88 may extend from an opening 90 in the outlet box, and the wire or a cable may be wrapped through the saddles of the reel. From the reel the cable or wire is trained through an eye 92 on one of the legs 36, as shown.

Referring to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the base 14 has an upper leg deflection surface which inclines downwardly and outwardly on all sides, being of frusto-conical shape. The position of the legs when in storage is shown in full lines in FIGURE 1 and it will be seen that when the carrier 34 moves downwardly, the legs will strike the deflection surface 120 causing their lower ends to move outwardly and downwardly until the carrier is in the doted line position shown in FIG- URE 1.

What is claimed is:

1. In a collapsible reel mounting, the combination which comprises a post having a base on the lower end and a head with a handle extended therefrom on the upper end, said base having an upper leg deflection surface which inclines downwardly and outwardly on all sides, said post having longitudinally disposed slot means in the outer surface and also having first and second notch means spaced with respect to each other longitudinally of the slot means, said notch means each extending laterally of said slot means and opening into said slot means, a leg carrier slidably mounted on the outer side of said post and having key means therein, said key means protruding into said slot means and positioned to enter and coact with said first and second notch means, respectively, for locking the leg carrier against movement toward the longitudinal center of said post when said key means is in upper and lower positions, legs pivotally mounted in said leg carrier and positioned to contact said leg deflection surface of said base for starting the lower ends of said legs in outward and downward motion as the leg carrier moves downwardly, stops on inner ends of the legs and cooperatively correlated with said carrier for limiting outward movements of the lower ends of said legs, and a reel rotatably mounted on said head.

2. A reel mounting as described in claim 1, in which an eye is provided on one of the legs and in winding a cable on the reel, or in removing the cable from the reel, the cable is retained in position by the eye.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 960,659 6/1910 Martinson 248-435 1,111,586 9/1914 Hurlbert 248-435 X 1,780,308 11/1930 Morris 248- X 2,502,667 4/1950 Pagett 248-170 X 3,106,367 10/1963 Stahmer 242-96 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Examiner. 

1. IN A COLLAPSIBLE REEL MOUNTING, THE COMBINATION WHICH COMPRISES A POST HAVING A BASE ON THE LOWER END AND A HEAD WITH A HANDLE EXTENDED THEREFROM ON THE UPPER END, SAID BASE HAVING AN UPPER LEG DEFLECTION SURFACE WHICH INCLINES DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY ON ALL SIDES, SAID POST HAVING LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED SLOT MEANS IN THE OUTER SURFACE AND ALSO HAVING FIRST AND SECOND NOTCH MEANS SPACED WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER LONGITUDINALLY OF THE SLOT MEANS, SAID NOTCH MEANS EXTENDING LATERALLY OF SAID SLOT MEANS AND OPENING INTO SAID SLOT MEANS, A LEG CARRIER SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON THE OUTER SIDE OF SAID POST AND HAVING KEY MEANS THEREIN, SAID KEY MEANS PROTRUDING INTO SAID SLOT MEANS AND POSITIONED TO ENTER AND COACT WITH SAID FIRST AND SECOND NOTCH MEANS, RESPECTIVELY, FOR LOCKING THE LEG CARRIER AGAINST MOVEMENT TOWARD THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER OF SAID POST WHEN SAID KEY MEANS IS IN UPPER AND LOWER POSITIONS, LEGS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN SAID LEG CARRIER AND POSITIONED TO CONTACT SAID LEG DEFLECTION SURFACE OF SAID BASE FOR STARTING THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID LEGS IN OUTWARD AND DOWNWARD MOTION AS THE LEG CARRIER MOVES DOWNWARDLY, STOPS ON INNER ENDS OF THE LEGS AND COOPERATIVELY CORRELATED WITH SAID CARRIER FOR LIMITING OUTWARD MOVEMENTS OF THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID LEGS, AND A REEL ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID HEAD. 